Since the turn of the nineteenth century, technological autonomy has been critically evaluated and warned against. This article provides an exemplary analysis of this discourse of fear. Several alarming topoi can be identified, among which military robots play a role. Our investigation begins with an interpretation of Goethe’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It then examines the uncanny nature of the automaton in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman, robots’ war of extermination against humans in Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. and the Terminator films, and Isaac Asimov’s introduction of robot ethics and subsequent fears. Finally, a comparative look at the perception of robots in Eastern and Western cultures is provided. We identify loss of control, replication, superiority, similarity, and destruction/extermination as alarm topoi. These topoi can be combined in various ways to communicate scenarios that trigger fear of robots or technological autonomy. However, this alarmist discourse is not inevitable. There are alternatives. One alternative is the idea of ethical self-control of robots, and another is to look beyond the horizon of Western culture.